Me and two others + DM are playing Curse of Strahd and our DM has been kind enough to give us free feats
I'm a goliath rune knight, grapplerbuild starting at 3rd level, and my party is a bard/warlock and a ranger/cleric. I want to get a half-feat so that gives +1 to str, i can pump it to 18(+4), but I've also got my eye on magic initiate for absorb elements, chill touch etc, etc if I do go for Magic Initiate, what spells do you suggest. another feat I like is skill expert for expertise in athletics and the str pump, but I also don't want to be just grappling, but doing other cool stuff too
If you go Magic Initiate go Cleric to get Sacred Flame, radiant damage is good when in a domain of dread fighting vampires, alternatively go druid to get Thorn Whip as magical slashing is always decent and pulling towards you would be helpful. Chill Touch is ok for the stopping healing, but you have to expect the necro damage isn't always going to work.
Crusher/Piercer is a good half-feat, Heavy Armour Master is good early game, Tough is always good.
I think the absolute best spell you can grab with Magic Initiate is Find Familiar. Familiars cover a ton of utility functions... it's a scout, it's a spy, it's limited-function mage hand... it's not super useful in combat, but if nothing else you can get an Owl with Flyby and have it Help you each round to get advantage on one attack. I think, most importantly, once you conjure your familiar... unless it gets killed, it's just there. The problem with most Magic Initiate 1st level spells is that they're one and done... if you take Absorb Elements it works once per day, and it's useful, but you won't get nearly as much use out of it, even if those uses are quite impactful.
As for cantrip choices... I think you generally want one utility spell and one ranged damage spell for those moments where you can't quite reach an enemy. I would take Mind Sliver as your attack spell... it's a Vocal-only spell, so you don't need to worry about keeping a hand free for your spellcasting focus... it deals very average damage (1d6 psychic), BUT, it has the added benefit of giving the targed -1d4 on their next Saving Throw, which is a great support option to help your spellcaster allies land spells. It also calls for an INT saving throw, which a lot of creatures are weak in (as compared to spells that target CON or WIS, which more creatures tend to have solid stats in).
For utility, there's a LOT of options. I've gotten a ton of use out of Minor Illusion in the past. Prestidigitation doesn't do any one thing particularly well, but it does a little bit of everything. But I think one of the most unique utility cantrips you can take is Mold Earth. The ability to shift earth around has a lot of potential uses... you can spend a few minutes to build a trench around your camp site each night for extra defenses. You can quickly dig up (or bury) anything you find. If you ever need to dig up a grave or something, you can just wave your hand and get the whole thing dug up all by yourself in an instant, instead of over a series of hours. You can also use it to prep a battlefield if you ever get the opportunity to set up an ambush... you can dig pits, set up choke points with difficult terrain. You can even use the spell for basic communication... something I've often done is, if I need to show an NPC someone or something I'm looking for, I've just cast Mold Earth and created an image on the ground for the NPC to look at. Also, it's another spell that doesn't require a Material Component, so you don't have to carry a spellcasting focus.
Me and two others + DM are playing Curse of Strahd and our DM has been kind enough to give us free feats
I'm a goliath rune knight, grapplerbuild starting at 3rd level, and my party is a bard/warlock and a ranger/cleric. I want to get a half-feat so that gives +1 to str, i can pump it to 18(+4), but I've also got my eye on magic initiate for absorb elements, chill touch etc, etc if I do go for Magic Initiate, what spells do you suggest. another feat I like is skill expert for expertise in athletics and the str pump, but I also don't want to be just grappling, but doing other cool stuff too
Depending on how hard core you plan to go with the grappling as opposed to weapon attacks, another option might be the new Strike of the Giants from Bigby's. Nice buff on your attacks at 3rd level, and then it sets you up for one of the other Giant feats at 4th that gets you your +1 STR and something else nifty
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Thank you so much! My DM made Aberrant Dragonmark available to us, his reasoning being "why can't the Material plane be Eberron, even if your in the Domans of Dread?" I'll go with my spell as find fdamiliar, and my cantrip as either magic stone, or Mold Earth
I think the absolute best spell you can grab with Magic Initiate is Find Familiar. Familiars cover a ton of utility functions... it's a scout, it's a spy, it's limited-function mage hand... it's not super useful in combat, but if nothing else you can get an Owl with Flyby and have it Help you each round to get advantage on one attack. I think, most importantly, once you conjure your familiar... unless it gets killed, it's just there. The problem with most Magic Initiate 1st level spells is that they're one and done... if you take Absorb Elements it works once per day, and it's useful, but you won't get nearly as much use out of it, even if those uses are quite impactful.
As for cantrip choices... I think you generally want one utility spell and one ranged damage spell for those moments where you can't quite reach an enemy. I would take Mind Sliver as your attack spell... it's a Vocal-only spell, so you don't need to worry about keeping a hand free for your spellcasting focus... it deals very average damage (1d6 psychic), BUT, it has the added benefit of giving the targed -1d4 on their next Saving Throw, which is a great support option to help your spellcaster allies land spells. It also calls for an INT saving throw, which a lot of creatures are weak in (as compared to spells that target CON or WIS, which more creatures tend to have solid stats in).
For utility, there's a LOT of options. I've gotten a ton of use out of Minor Illusion in the past. Prestidigitation doesn't do any one thing particularly well, but it does a little bit of everything. But I think one of the most unique utility cantrips you can take is Mold Earth. The ability to shift earth around has a lot of potential uses... you can spend a few minutes to build a trench around your camp site each night for extra defenses. You can quickly dig up (or bury) anything you find. If you ever need to dig up a grave or something, you can just wave your hand and get the whole thing dug up all by yourself in an instant, instead of over a series of hours. You can also use it to prep a battlefield if you ever get the opportunity to set up an ambush... you can dig pits, set up choke points with difficult terrain. You can even use the spell for basic communication... something I've often done is, if I need to show an NPC someone or something I'm looking for, I've just cast Mold Earth and created an image on the ground for the NPC to look at. Also, it's another spell that doesn't require a Material Component, so you don't have to carry a spellcasting focus.
Except in CoS, some of Find Familiar's features might be... Tricky. 😁 It's still good, though.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Finland GMT/UTC +2
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Me and two others + DM are playing Curse of Strahd and our DM has been kind enough to give us free feats
I'm a goliath rune knight, grapplerbuild starting at 3rd level, and my party is a bard/warlock and a ranger/cleric. I want to get a half-feat so that gives +1 to str, i can pump it to 18(+4), but I've also got my eye on magic initiate for absorb elements, chill touch etc, etc if I do go for Magic Initiate, what spells do you suggest. another feat I like is skill expert for expertise in athletics and the str pump, but I also don't want to be just grappling, but doing other cool stuff too
If you go Magic Initiate go Cleric to get Sacred Flame, radiant damage is good when in a domain of dread fighting vampires, alternatively go druid to get Thorn Whip as magical slashing is always decent and pulling towards you would be helpful. Chill Touch is ok for the stopping healing, but you have to expect the necro damage isn't always going to work.
Crusher/Piercer is a good half-feat, Heavy Armour Master is good early game, Tough is always good.
I think the absolute best spell you can grab with Magic Initiate is Find Familiar. Familiars cover a ton of utility functions... it's a scout, it's a spy, it's limited-function mage hand... it's not super useful in combat, but if nothing else you can get an Owl with Flyby and have it Help you each round to get advantage on one attack. I think, most importantly, once you conjure your familiar... unless it gets killed, it's just there. The problem with most Magic Initiate 1st level spells is that they're one and done... if you take Absorb Elements it works once per day, and it's useful, but you won't get nearly as much use out of it, even if those uses are quite impactful.
As for cantrip choices... I think you generally want one utility spell and one ranged damage spell for those moments where you can't quite reach an enemy. I would take Mind Sliver as your attack spell... it's a Vocal-only spell, so you don't need to worry about keeping a hand free for your spellcasting focus... it deals very average damage (1d6 psychic), BUT, it has the added benefit of giving the targed -1d4 on their next Saving Throw, which is a great support option to help your spellcaster allies land spells. It also calls for an INT saving throw, which a lot of creatures are weak in (as compared to spells that target CON or WIS, which more creatures tend to have solid stats in).
For utility, there's a LOT of options. I've gotten a ton of use out of Minor Illusion in the past. Prestidigitation doesn't do any one thing particularly well, but it does a little bit of everything. But I think one of the most unique utility cantrips you can take is Mold Earth. The ability to shift earth around has a lot of potential uses... you can spend a few minutes to build a trench around your camp site each night for extra defenses. You can quickly dig up (or bury) anything you find. If you ever need to dig up a grave or something, you can just wave your hand and get the whole thing dug up all by yourself in an instant, instead of over a series of hours. You can also use it to prep a battlefield if you ever get the opportunity to set up an ambush... you can dig pits, set up choke points with difficult terrain. You can even use the spell for basic communication... something I've often done is, if I need to show an NPC someone or something I'm looking for, I've just cast Mold Earth and created an image on the ground for the NPC to look at. Also, it's another spell that doesn't require a Material Component, so you don't have to carry a spellcasting focus.
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Another feat it's frequently worth considering is Resilient (Wisdom).
Depending on how hard core you plan to go with the grappling as opposed to weapon attacks, another option might be the new Strike of the Giants from Bigby's. Nice buff on your attacks at 3rd level, and then it sets you up for one of the other Giant feats at 4th that gets you your +1 STR and something else nifty
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Thank you so much! My DM made Aberrant Dragonmark available to us, his reasoning being "why can't the Material plane be Eberron, even if your in the Domans of Dread?" I'll go with my spell as find fdamiliar, and my cantrip as either magic stone, or Mold Earth
Except in CoS, some of Find Familiar's features might be... Tricky. 😁 It's still good, though.
Finland GMT/UTC +2